Some embodiments described herein relate generally to switch fabric control, and, in particular, to centralized virtual control associated with switch fabrics.
A switch fabric can include a large quantity of switches to direct data packets from a source device to a destination device. Switches within the switch fabric can each include a local processor and receive periodic software updates. As a switch fabric grows larger, more switches are included, resulting in increased power usage from the added processors and a longer, labor-intensive, and potentially error prone, software upgrade process. In some instances, a network operator manages a software upgrade for each individual switch and often manually upgrades the software one switch at a time.
Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus to simplify the software upgrade process of a switch fabric and to reduce the power usage of a switch fabric.